Busy Monday for the Redlegs

Remember when everyone complained about the lack of Reds hot stove activity from October through mid-January?

Since then — Aroldis Chapman, Miguel Cairo, Orlando Cabrera have been added. And on Monday, fan non-favorite center fielder Willy Taveras was subtracted. Jonny Gomes could be returning any day with a Minor League deal if the two sides can come together.

What did you think of the latest moves?

Personally, I was not overly wowed with the Cabrera signing but I understand why the Reds felt they had to make it. To them, the lineup wasn’t strong enough to wait while Paul Janish developed as a hitter. The front office wanted more of a sure thing.

Cabrera won’t be a defensive liability but he won’t nearly as sound as Janish, who I think would have come around offensively — eventually. I also think Janish’s defensive ability is so good that he would have saved more runs to make it worth starting him. Is the offense Cabrera might provide worth all the extra money? I would have pocketed it for later in the year when more tweaks might be needed.

You can debate the merits of the signing but you can’t debate the motive. The Reds have to feel they have the pieces in place to contend.

As for the trade, I was amazed the Reds found a way to trade Taveras and not have to eat any of his salary. That’s a huge plus. Anything Aaron Miles can do is pretty much a bonus at this point. I’m not expecting much but I’m also not expecting him to struggle as bad as he did last year.

When you add up the money — Taveras’ $4 million salary compared to $2.7 million for Miles and the difference that went to pay Cabrera — the Reds could have done much worse under the circumstances.

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6 Comments

Well, it finally looks like they had a plan all along and were working the plan. None of the deals has made the team a whole lot better, but at least they haven’t stayed pat. For surprise contenders (not the perennial ones) the deals like the Cabrera signing and the Taveras trade have to be touched with magic, and sometime it happens. Meanwhile, you have to wish Rosales well. I’ll miss his goofy skipping-loping around the bases.

Mark, with McCoy gone to the great rocking chair at home, any chance of you increasing your activities on reporting the Reds? I appreciate your in depth and behind the scene narrative stuff that you just don’t get that from the wires, the sabre geeks and the tweets.

Pogwilley — thanks for coming over to this blog and also for reading on the main site. As for increasing activity on the reporting, I always do my best to stay busy and give the readers something new. Fresh stories are up nearly every weekday in the off-season and of course, I will be writing, blogging, tweeting, etc. nearly every single day once Spring Training opens, through the end of the season.

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